


icarus

by mesoquatic



Category: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (TV 2016)
Genre: Avian Au, BLACKWING - Freeform, Fluff, No Relationship, Project Icarus, Wing AU, avian!dirk, farah mentioned, god i just finished the show this morning and have another fic on the way, maybe???, todd and dirk talk, wing fic, winged!dirk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-31
Updated: 2018-12-31
Packaged: 2019-10-01 17:04:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17248073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mesoquatic/pseuds/mesoquatic
Summary: "Dirk?""Yes?""Why were you Project Icarus?"





	icarus

“Dirk?”

Dirk looked up from his desk and up at Todd. He knew that face. He’s known it ever since Todd had heard more and more about Blackwing. Todd wanted answers. Dirk wasn’t willing to give them. They had some of the files for the shortest amount of time, but Dirk refused to let Todd read them.

He was too scared that the truth would kill Todd. Todd was the cat. Too much curiosity and out the window he might go. Too much and he’d leave Dirk alone, most likely taking Farah with him. Dirk didn’t want that or either of them dying.

“Yes, Todd?” He looked back down at the file he was reading. Farah had insisted that if they were to open the agency, they would have to keep files of the cases. It kept it organized, for the most part. All it did for Dirk was give him a headache.

Todd closed the door. No one else was in the office. Dirk guesses that it helped set the mood: impending doom.

“Can I ask you something?” Todd slowly sat down in the chair in front of Dirk’s desk. Dirk had insisted on it. He felt like a real boss. He even had the grand spinning chair of the office.

“Of course!” Dirk grinned, not daring to look back up from the pages in front of him. “If it has to do with the O’Malley case, I assure you that I’m work-”

“It’s not about the O’Malley case.” Todd interrupted. “It’s about Blackwing.”

Dirk paused. This isn’t the first time they had been in this position before. It became weekly after Todd learned more and more. He had so many questions. Dirk answered many of them, but always refused one.

“Why were you Project _Icarus?”_

Dirk let go the breath he was holding in. He glanced up at Todd before looking around his office. This time, he felt more nervous. Todd, on the other hand, kept his hands in his lap and watched.

“I know I keep asking, but maybe it’s important in some way. I don’t want us to run into a dead end and you just-”

“I told you that I’m a detective. Cases and stuff come to me.”

“You barely use the word ‘stuff.” Todd moved to the edge of his seat. “You only really do when you’re unsure about something.”

“Look, Todd, I really don’t want to be having this conversation right now. I need to be working on the O’Malley case.”

“Reading the files has never helped you, Dirk. Farah and I just want to make sure that you’re okay.” Todd took in a deep breath of air. “Friends don’t hide things from each other, Dirk.”

Dirk wiped his hands on his pants. He got up and closed the file. “Todd-”

“Please.”

Dirk took in a deep breath of air. He had to do this. If he didn’t do it now, it would just be kicked down the path until he encountered it again. Todd is right. If he doesn’t do it soon, more importantly now, they could run into serious trouble. Todd wouldn’t know. Farah wouldn’t know. Not knowing could make it worse.

Dirk slowly sat down.

“I would think it’s fairly obvious.”

Todd shook his head. “I want to hear you explain it.”

“I,” he could always lie, but that wouldn’t put him in good standings. Last time he lied to Todd, he almost lost him as a friend. Of course, Todd found out the truth and it ended happily. Maybe that’ll happen here? “You know how the cases come to me.”

“Right.”

“They just pop up! No matter what I do or where I go, I find them. They find me. Everything comes to me-”

“We’ve had this conversation.”

“Danger comes with it. You also know that, but if danger is the sun, then I’m Icarus.” Dirk smiled and sat back down. That wasn’t all of it. He could tell Todd wasn’t satisfied. “Of course, I haven’t drowned yet, or fallen and died.”

“What else is there?”

“Todd-”

“How’d you get up to my window the first time we met?” Todd whispered. “You can’t reach the fire escape from the ground. Or the barn? The one at the Cardenas house? That ladder was broken. You can’t get up there, but you did. There’s more to this. If it was just that you can solve really weird and bizarre cases, why wasn’t it just Project Detective?”

“Well, they were naming others after mythology. I would think that they wouldn’t leave me out of that.” Dirk concluded, playing with the file on the desk.

“What else is there, Dirk?”

“From how you’re going about this, I’m pretty sure you know the answer.”

“I want to hear you explain it.” Todd leaned forward and watched Dirk closely. “I’m pretty sure I have this nailed down, but I want to hear it from you.”

“I don’t think the answer is what you want to hear.”

“Then say it anyway.”

Dirk paused again. How was he supposed to phrase this in a way that Todd would understand. This was something he was sure wasn’t connected to the holistic thing, anyway. This was something that Blackwing only found more fascinating than just the detectiving thing.

“I can fly…?”

Wow. Nailed it.

“How?” Todd raised his eyebrows. This was the answer he was asking for, but not in the way he was hoping. If this all goes how he wants it to go, Dirk will start rambling on and give him all the answers he wants.

“Well, sort of. No, actually, very sort of. It’s not like I don’t apply to the law of gravity.”

Yep, this is exactly what Todd was hoping for.

“It’s more like I can do it when I want. So, sort of.” Dirk paused. “It’s a lot more complicated than that. I guess I can fly. Well, obviously, I can. We’ve been over that.” He hummed. “I have an ability to do it. That may or may not be the only thing I can control in my life. Wings and all that stuff. It would be very fascinating to see and comprehend if it wasn’t me. Of course, I don’t need them to fly, only for when I need help guiding myself or it’s more than so many meters.”

“We use feet here.”

“And it doesn’t make sense! Meters are much more understandable than whatever is in a foot. Is every foot different? I’m sure a mile to me would be different than a mile with you. Your feet are bigger than mine.” He paused for a second, staring down Todd. “You didn’t mention anything-”

“About the wings. Yeah, I know.”

“Why not? You must have so many questions.”

“I pieced it together before starting to ask you, Dirk. Just because I now know for sure doesn’t mean I’m going to force you to show-”

Todd stopped. Dirk bit his lip. He was glad he was only in his undershirt when they came out. If he were to ruin one of his jackets, he might as well throw himself out of a window. There’s not many of them left and they’re not being made anymore.

“Wow.”

Dirk closed his eyes and didn’t say a word. They were crammed up against the back of his chair and moving forward would only cause him to fall off his chair. After having them around his whole life, he still never found his center of gravity with them around.

“They’re brown.” Todd chuckled. “Almost beige.”

“Were you expecting something else?” Dirk asked carefully.

“Black. Your hair color naturally.”

“Don’t remind me. It’s no fun.”

They both shared a laugh as Dirk opened his eyes again. Todd smiled at him.

“They suit you. So does the brown hair.” Todd got up and adjusted his shirt. “You could have told us.”

“It’s not exactly normal.”

“Do you think any of the stuff in this place is normal?” Todd snorted and headed for the door. “Someone called about the O’Malley case earlier.”

“You didn’t mention anything.” They were gone once again. Dirk could feel the air conditioning air hitting the rips in his shirt. “Why not?”

“Thought that you would have somehow known.” Todd chuckled. “I’ll forward you the log.”

Todd closed the door on his way out. Dirk took in a deep breath and sat back in his chair. He closed his eyes, feeling more relieved than anything else. All of the shame he was expecting were only there to make him think he’d regret it.

He opened his eyes and reached for his jacket. He should add dress shirts to his grocery list. He’ll probably go through a lot more in the future.

**Author's Note:**

> tumblr: mesoquatic


End file.
